Emperor of Mankind

The Immortal God-Emperor of Mankind is the leader of the Imperium, the largest human organization in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 game universe, created by Games Workshop. He was once walking among his subjects and led a crusade to unite mankind into a vast galactic empire, the character seems heavily influenced by Frank Herbert's character Leto Atreides II also known as "the God Emperor of Dune" in the fictional Dune universe.

The Emperor of Mankind

Within the Warhammer 40,000 game, The Emperor is worshipped as Master, Defender and Father of Mankind by the countless of the Imperium's inhabitants. He sits immobile within the Golden Throne, on Earth (often referred to as Holy Terra) and has remained there for ten thousand years. Although once a living man, his shattered body can no longer support life and is held intact by his spirit alone, sustained by the soul-sacrifice of countless millions. The Emperor is the object of worship in the Imperial Cult, maintained by the Adeptus Ministorum, also known as the Ecclesiarchy, whose missionaries spread his worship across the human galaxy. Only three groups within the Imperium do not adhere to the tenets of the Imperial Cult; the Adeptus Mechanicus who sometimes worship him as the Omnissiah, a multi-fold divine force that is united with their Machine God; the Adeptus Astartes, who instead see the Emperor as the creator and father of their Primarchs, who were in turn the progenitors of their geneseed, rather than as a god in the flesh; and the few surviving Squats.

The Emperor's mind is no longer whole, but after ten thousand years of constant vigilance and trapped inside an immobile carcass, has fractured into many individual minds. The Emperor is in this way omnipotent, simultaneously guiding his race through his Tarot, directing the Astronomican, granting audiences and enduring his living death, (The Inquisition War trilogy). This viewpoint of the Emperors psychological state is repeatedly conflicted, between the novelizations of the 40k universe and "canonical" game material, and is extensively retconned on an almost continual basis. The opening text of the Inquisitor rulebook describes the mixed feelings that surrounded the Emperor's ascension.

The Star Child Theory
The Star Child is the nascent power of the Emperor's soul in the warp as it is ebbed away from his dying body. The Star Child has its own champions (the Sensei), and could bestow powers on these individuals.

The Star Child theory was introduced during first edition's Realm of Chaos books and referred to later in the 3rd Edition Warhammer 40,000 guide. Like the Thorians, those who believe in the Star Child theory (the Illuminati) hope for the reincarnation of the Emperor.

Central to the belief is that the Emperor's soul is part of the warp.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu